ST. LOUIS -- It's amazing what a change of scenery did for Cam Fowler.
After they fired Drew Bannister and hired Jim Montgomery, they took off. The Blues should make some trades this offseason to improve their defense, and this summer is the time to do it. The Blues have already allocated more money to the 2025-26 forward core than they did in 2024-25.
This season was a whirlwind for Jimmy Snuggerud. "Honestly it was the best experience of my life," Snuggerud said after the season ended. The forward signed his NHL contract in late March, one day after his University of Minnesota squad was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
It's been a week-and-a-half since the St. Louis Blues suffered one of the most heartbreaking defeats in franchise history. After leading the President's Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets by two goals late in regulation of Game 7, the Blues allowed the Jets to score twice — and once in the final seconds of the contest — before ultimately losing in double overtime. St. Louis went on a second-half tear with Jim Montgomery behind the bench, and if they had gotten past Winnipeg, they probably could have beaten anyone. “It's only going to help us,” Montgomery said after Game 7.
This will be the first-ever Game 7 to be held in Winnipeg, making it a historic game for the franchise. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington has been excellent in his career in Game 7s. Binnington holds a record of 2-0 and has allowed 0.82 goals per game.
With a slim one game advantage in the series and the ability to eliminate their opposition, the Winnipeg Jets had a tall task on Friday night when they faced a St. Louis Blues squad that has won 14 straight game at the Enterprise Center in Missouri. Then you add that the True Northers have never won a Game 6 contest and the injury to top center Mark Scheifele, the odds seemed stacked against them. The return of speedy winger Nikolaj Ehlers could provide a much needed boost to the visiting Jets, but they will likely have to depend on a blue collar effort to grind out a win versus the hot Blues. Then simmering just below the surface, there is a lot of animosity between the Central Division rivals and there is the potential that blows up after Winnipeg head coach Scott Arniel called attention to the unsportsmanlike behaviour displayed by St. Louis in the series.
There were many worthwhile Jack Adams Award candidates in 2024-25. After all, based on the level of competition, St. Louis realistically won't win. Whereas the Canadiens' playoff berth as the Eastern Conference's second wild card was unexpected, Arniel's Jets winning the Presidents' Trophy was too, probably to a greater extent.
The Blues continued to be kings of their own domain, clobbering the Winnipeg Jets at the Enterprise Center for the third time in their first-round series, winning Game 6 5-2 on Friday night and sending the series back to Manitoba for Game 7 on Sunday. The Blues tied the series at 3-3 with a blast of four goals in 5:23 in the second period that broke a tight game wide open. It was an unlikely cast of scorers for the Blues: defensemen Philip Broberg and Cam Fowler, fourth-liners Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko, and Brayden Schenn.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is up for league MVP, but his play has been puzzling in the playoffs.
Blues head coach Jim Montgomery had a decision to make and, admittedly, it wasn’t a hard one.
ST. LOUIS -- For the longest time, the St. Louis Blues were setting themselves up for a third straight seasons without the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It wasn't that long ago that Tage Thompson was part of the long term plans for the St. Louis Blues.
As his Blues team fell in seven games to the Jets earlier this month, Dylan Holloway could only watch. Sidelined by surgery to repair a lower-body injury, Holloway was relegated to a spectator as St. Louis came within seconds of advancing to the second round by beating league-leading Winnipeg. During the season, Holloway was one of the Blues' best players, and said he “was pretty crushed” not to be able to play in the playoffs. “That was really hard,” Holloway said in a phone interview.
Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch Sports columnist Author email Follow Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Facebook Twitter Bluesky WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The international sports superstar's first team? It was the Creve Coeur Comets. He was 5. And the team's colors, a harbinger I suppose, were red, white
The Blues should not trade Brayden Schenn if they wish to take the next step in their dreams of winning another Stanley Cup.
For St. Louis, there's a personal twist: Two homegrown talents - who once played roller hockey in the same basement and grew up in the same local hockey system - now go head-to-head on hockey's biggest stage.
